Forensics manner, mechanism, cause, autopsies

Have experts agreed on the definition of death?

• no it is still debated

Coroner

• can be elected

• does not have to be a physician

• identifies the body, notifies the body, returns personal items, issues death certificate

Medical Examiner

• has to be a doctor

• oversees death investigations

• performs autopsies

Forensic Pathologist

• has to be a doctor

• performs autopsies on suspicious deaths

• determines presence of disease, injury, poisoning

• trained in other sciences

Where does the word coroner come from?

• from the word crowners in Britain

four or five manners of death

• natural

• accidental

• suicide

• homicide

• 5th- undetermined

What is the cause of death?

• the reason or event that precipitates death

• ex. drowning, gunshot wound, overdose (not what physically ended their life like cardiac arrest)

Proximate cause of death

• underlying cause of death

• ex. chronic disease like AIDS

mechanism of death

• the process that causes one or more vital organs to fail due to the cause of death

• ex. exsanguination (blood loss) (cause of death- gunshot)

• cardiac arrest (heart stops) after heart attack

What does TOD stand for?

• time of death

What does TSD stand for?

• time since death

• time frame between death and discovery of the body

• also called PMI (postmortem interval)

What is stoppage?

• the first process of death

• heart stops, lack of oxygen

• toxic wastes accumulate

Autolysis

• after stoppage

• also called cell self-digestion

rigor mortis

• stiffening after death

• usually apparent 2 hours after death

• starts in small muscles first (face)

• usually disappears after 24-36 hours

algor mortis

• cooling of the body after death

• most accurate for 24 hours

How is the body temperature taken?

• at the scene- rectally

• morgue- liver

livor mortis

• causes death color

• results from blood cells settling due to gravity

What are the general steps/goals of an autopsy?

• determine manner, mechanism, cause

• external examination

• internal examination

• either clinical or forensic

What is the body farm?

• a research facility where scientists study how human bodies decompose

LABRADOR

• analyzer for buried remains

• chemical scent analyzer

How is death a process?

• there are 5 stages of decomposition

• the cells take time to fully die